China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, along with five other government departments, released guidelines to comprehensively promote the recycling and reuse of end-of-life photovoltaic (PV) modules, with the aim of building system-level capacity to cope with an expected wave of large-scale shutdowns.
China will further raise the level of green manufacturing for PV modules, increase the use of recycled materials, and improve waste assessment standards and testing and inspection methods, according to the guidelines, which set a cumulative comprehensive utilization target of up to 250,000 tons of used PV modules by 2027.
The guidelines urge breakthroughs in key technologies such as surface structure dismantling, high-efficiency laminate separation, and component extraction, and call for broader application of PV-derived recycled products in sectors including metal smelting, equipment manufacturing, and building materials.
Efforts will be made to develop a set of technical standards for the implementation of green design and comprehensive utilization of PV modules, and to cultivate a group of leading enterprises engaged in the comprehensive utilization of end-of-life PV modules.
By 2030, the guidelines target further improvement of recycling technology and equipment, stronger industrial innovation, and expansion of application scenarios for recycled products, with a more coordinated upstream-downstream supply chain and well-distributed capacity arrangements capable of addressing the challenge of a large-scale wave of PV module waste.
